Whitney Wolfe Calls Tinder’s Parent Company A ‘Bully’

You may have never heard of Whitney Wolfe, but you have certainly heard of at least one of the apps that she has helped create. As an expert in the dating app field, Wolfe is a co-founder of the wildly popular dating app Tinder that encourages users to swipe left or right on dating profiles depending on their preferences. However, she parted from the company back in 2014 and subsequently sued Tinder for sexual harassment.

Putting the past behind her, Whitney currently serves as the CEO and founder of Bumble, another popular dating app and one of the only apps that centers around women and discourages sexual harassment. Unfortunately, Tinder’s parent company has recently decided to sue Bumble for patent infringement, and many were quick to point out that this could be in response to the bad blood created when Wolfe left Tinder. Wolfe, however, cheekily responded that Bumble “swipes left” to the lawsuit, meaning that they do not want nor accept it.

Her “swipe left” comment comes from an open letter that she penned to Tinder’s parent company after the presentation of the lawsuit. She faced their criticism head on with some complaints of her own; calling Tinder executives “bullies” and stated that they have many times tried to “buy, copy, and intimidate [Bumble]”.

In the face of this challenge, Whitney Wolfe has also decided to use the recent publicity for good. Bumble made a sizable to a humanitarian charity that supports marginalized women. This comes as no surprise to those who know Wolfe personally, as she has had a philanthropic spirit for her entire life. While she was in college, she created a non-profit handbag company that benefited victims of the BP oil spill. Through this effort, she gained essential marketing and humanitarian experience that would come in handy later in her life. Upon graduating from Southern Methodist University, she worked with orphans in South Asia.

Since starting Bumble, Wolfe has taken the dating world by storm. She was recently interviewed at SXSW where she spoke on how important it was for her to make Bumble a safe space for women, as most dating apps are the opposite. She emphasized that she wants to empower the #metoo movement through her app by encouraging a climate of fun, safe dating where kindness is a priority.

Bumble isn’t just about dating, though. Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz are two examples of how Wolfe has cleverly applied the same tactics used in the original Bumble to other aspects of life. Bumble BFF has about the same premise, but it’s used to find friends instead of a romantic relationship. Bumble Bizz can be used to find like-minded professionals to network and discuss innovative ideas. Can your dating app do that?

Personally, Wolfe enjoys spending time with her husband, whom she married last year in southern Italy. It’s safe to say that Wolfe isn’t sweating over this lawsuit and will continue providing safe, enjoyable dating opportunities for people all over the world.